Sunday, September 14, 2008

Harvest Moon Originates with Norse Mythology

Monday, September 15, is the Harvest Moon, said in Norse mythology to be the most powerful of the moons for a strong harvest and plenty. It is the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox.

All full moons rise around the time of sunset. However, the Harvest Moon and Hunter's Moon are special, because around the time of these full moons, the time difference between moonrise on successive evenings is shorter than usual. Thus there is no long period of darkness between sunset and moonrise around the time following these full moons. In times past this feature was said to help farmers working to bring in their crops. They could continue being productive by moonlight even after the sun had set.

Often, the Harvest Moon seems to be bigger or brighter or more colorful than other moons. These effects have to do with the seasonal tilt of the earth. The warm color of the moon shortly after it rises is an optical illusion, based on the fact that when the moon is low in the sky, you are looking at it through a greater amount of atmospheric particles than when the moon is overhead.

Tides represent the high and low, the ebb and flow. They're the rhythm spanning millennia and an apt image for this blog as it seeks to provide accounts linking today with ages long past. New archaeological finds and scholarly speculations help us better understand our ancestors and this small planet we've shared. And the better we understand our forebears and their environs, the better we know ourselves.

A Top History Site

Ancient Tidesis in the Top 5 favorite ancient-history blogs at Baidun Galleries, one of the world's leading dealers in rare and exquisite antiquities, located in Jerusalem. A Baidun spokesman said Ancient Tides is among "a few reputable bloggers pertaining to ancient history that we thought deserved a shout out."

Ancient Tides is the top blog in the Ancient History category at Masters in History, a portal for online degrees in History.

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Ancient Tides has been called one of the top ancient history blogs by Ace Online Schools, a guide to schools, degrees and other educational programs.

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Ancient Tides is listed among the "Top 100 History Blogs" by Guide to Online Schools, a portal to various online education programs.